Category: Cities

This is a category for cities. All about food have reviewed restaurants in cities like Sydney, Singapore, Bali Island, Surabaya, and Bandung.

Naughty Nuri’s Warung

Naughty Nuri’s Warung Review:

During our visit to Melbourne at the end of last month, we went to eat at an Indonesian restaurant with our friends from Melbourne. Historically speaking, Indonesian restaurants in Melbourne are never on par with Sydney ones. So, I did not put any expectations to this week’s restaurant, Naughty Nuri’s Warung.

A lot of the dishes in Naughty Nuri’s Warung are spicy… like really spicy by non-Indonesian standard (and by my standard). So, please be mindful of the two chilis icon.

Naughty Nuri’s 1995 signature BBQ pork ribs – $29 half rack – Nuri’s signature marinated pork ribs with Balinese spice, grilled to perfection.

BBQ pork ribs is the signature dish for Naughty Nuri’s. The difference with all of the other pork ribs in Australia is that this one was very spicy.

Ikan Bakar Jimbaran – $28 – Grilled barramundi fillet topped with Makassar hot sauce (made from ginger flower, lemongrass, shallot and chilli), served with placing kangkung, sambal hijau teri asin and sambal matah.

The grilled fish was also quite spicy. Somehow I could still eat it. It is wise to order the optional steam rice $2 or Coconut rice $3. Rice lessens the spice level.

Nuri’s Dirty Duck (half duck) – $29 – Nuri’s signature duck marinated then simmered in traditional Balinese spices, then deep fried until crispy.

Along with the BBQ pork ribs, this duck is why people visit Naughty Nuri. Please be mindful that this dish is for half a duck. So, it is quite a big dish!

This dish along with the next two also came with three chilli sauces and a choice of vegetables: plecing kangkung, Balinese lawar and plecing terong goreng.

Crispy pork belly with rice – $16 – Pork belly steamed and coated in our secret marinade. Served with pork crackling.

One of our friends ordered the pork belly dish. It looked quite small when compared to the ribs, fish and dirty duck.

Ayam betutu gilimanuk – $14 – Whole chicken maryland marinated in traditional Balinese spice, braised till tender and full of flavours.

My friend commented that the chicken in the Australian version was quite large when compared to Indonesian chickens.

Monster Bakso – $8 – Giant beef ball in traditional pepperish clear soup served with a side of sambal tomat terasi.

The monster bakso was my son’s order. Unfortunately they came in last and was probably forgotten until we asked them. It was quite different when compared to our usual Indonesian bakso.

Truffle fries served with sweet chilli mayo – $6

We ordered some fries to appease the little guy because of the monster ball fiasco.

Es Teler – $9 – The classic Indonesian fruit cocktail of avocado, coconut, nata de coco and jackfruit.

Es teler is probably an all-time favourite dessert for Indonesian people. Its literal translation to English is ‘Drunken Ice’.

The final verdict for Naughty Nuri’s Warung

Naughty Nuri’s Warung is one of the best Indonesian restaurants I have every tried in Australia. They could probably be amongst one of the best in my list. Unfortunately, their service is letting them down considerably.

Did you know?

Naughy Nuri’s Warung is originated from a small warung in Ubud, Bali. I have been to its original site, but I ironically I enjoyed the one in Melbourne better. It just lacks the Balinese scenery.

Rating for Naughty Nuri’s Warung:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $14 – $59 per main dish

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

Shop 317, Level 3, Melbourne Central

+61 3 9650 6828

http://www.naughtynuris.com.au/

Apr 10, 2017
Bebek Tepi Sawah

Bebek Tepi Sawah Review:

Our review this week came from a now-franchised restaurant in Indonesia. Bebek tepi sawah is literally translated in English to ‘edge-of-a-rice-field duck’. The first Bebek Tepi Sawah restaurant was opened in Ubud, Bali. On this occasion, we went to one of its branches in Pondok Indah Mall in Jakarta. The menu is quite similar to the one in Bali, but with more emphasise on the Indonesian dishes.

Duck restaurant in Indonesia is usually famous because of its chili sauces. In Bebek tepi sawah, you get three different chilli sauces: red chilli, fried chilli, and Balinese’s special sambal matah. Each and every one of them is above my spicy threshold.

Tepi sawah crispy duck or grilled duck – 109 – Our signature traditional duck with choices of deep fried or grilled served with Balinese vegetable, rice, and three types of sambal (merah, matah, goreng)

Their signature duck came in either grilled with soy sauce or deep fried. The grilled version is more on the sweet side and the deep fried is savoury.

Bebek Betutu – 102k – One of all-time favourite dishes in Bali, the duck is stuffed with banana leaf and traditional balinese spices, then grilled. Served together with lawar, rice, and sambal.

Betutu is the traditional steamed-version of the duck. Betutu spice is notoriously spicy. I wouldn’t recommend you touching it unless you are an avid chilli lover.

Iga bakar tepi sawah – 109k – A set of grilled beef short ribs marinated with soy sauce, served with lawar and rice

This was the dish that I ordered. The ribs portion was quite small when compared to the ones in Sydney.

Sup Iga Garang Asam – 99k – Braised short ribs beef soup with special sour herbs and served with our special chili

Sate Bangli – 65k – Marinated chicken skewers with soy sauce, grilled, and served with sambal pelalah

The final verdict for Bebek Tepi Sawah

When your restaurant is called ‘edge-of-a-rice-field duck’, eating in a giant mall in Jakarta somewhat diminished its value. The duck itself did not manage to beat my favourite duck restaurant in Indonesia. I quite enjoyed the beef ribs I ordered.

Did you know?

Bebek Tepi Sawah has four outlets in Jakarta – the same number of outlets they have in Bali!

Rating for Bebek Tepi Sawah:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: Rp. 100k+ per main dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Pondok Indah Mall 2, Lantai 3, Jl Metro Pondok Indah, Jakarta Selatan

+62 21 7592 0667

http://www.bebektepisawahrestaurant.com/

Mar 29, 2017
The Holy Crab

The Holy Crab Review:

Seafood in Indonesia is in abundance and is usually quite reasonably-priced. That’s why for this week’s review we went to a nice seafood place in Jakarta called The Holy Crab. The Holy Crab borrowed its seafood concept from Louisiana seafood boil.

However, we actually did not pay close attention to the price in the menu and missed the ‘little’ detail of price per 100 gr for the first 8 items (not just the top 4) in the menu. As a consequence, those 2 mud crabs were costing us more than half of the total bill!

Their menu can be divided into two: fried or boiled. Obviously their main attraction was the boiled one. You can select from the two sauces: Original Cajun or Garlic Pepper. There are four different hotness levels: Mild, Medium, Spicy, and Holy Moly!

Cajun Fries – 28k

Cajun fries is the staples that you need to order. You would get corn in some of the dishes below, but it’s not chips!

Onion Rings – 35k

Onion rings is one of my favourite dishes and I will always try to order them whenever I see one.

Mud Crab – 48k / 100gr

I love a good mud crab. However at $48 / kg, their price is almost on par with Sydney’s Mud Crab.

Shrimps – 40k / 100gr

We ordered the shrimps, that’s how the Americans said it, in garlic pepper sauce. It also came with corn cobs.

Crawfish – 48k / 100gr

I like crawfish, or what we call yabbies here in Australia, a lot more than lobster.

Hooks Telescope – 30k

The Hooks Telescope is the name they gave for a hot dog. It is part of the kids menu. The hot dog was quite plain and you had to put in the sauce separately. This is a big no-no for kids (my son especially). It wasn’t as exciting as the rest of the dishes.

The final verdict for The Holy Crab

Outside the little pricing ‘surprise’, we actually quite enjoyed our dinner at The Holy Crab.

Did you know?

The Holy Crab group has a few different restaurants in its group, Ersons Group. One of the more notable restaurants is the Holy Smokes.

Rating for The Holy Crab:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: ~ $200 for 3 adults + 1 kid

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Jl Gunawarman no. 55, Jakarta Selatan 12110

+62 21 2923 6155

http://theholycrab.co.id/

Mar 21, 2017
Nikuzo

Nikuzo Review:

For our review this week, we We went to Nikuzo Japanese restaurant in Bondi Junction, Sydney. Nikuzo is an all you can eat restaurant with three different buffet menu. The standard buffet is quite cheap and has your basic all-you-can-eat needs, including beef tongue. For $10 extra, you get the wagyu and seafood buffet. There are quite a lot of seafood options, including scallops and soft shell crab.

The premium buffet has more wagyu, but its true value is in the fresh oyster, salmon sashimi and sushi, and beef yukke. If you don’t eat raw stuff, the middle option would be the best for you.

Wagyu

Wagyu is obviously the biggest selling point in the menu. They have 10 different wagyu beef cuts (7 for the middle option and 3 for premium one). Choose whichever cuts you love!

Seafood

I was also quite impressed with the seafood lineup that they served. They have two different kinds of oysters: deep fried and fresh. You can only get 1 oyster per person in the premium buffet. They have unlimited salmon sashimi and sushi. You can also have salmon with butter for the cooked version.

I couldn’t get enough off their deep fried soft shell crab! If seafood is really your thing, you can also order different kinds of prawns and scallops.

Desserts

They have three different desserts: vanilla ice cream, fruits, and Japanese pancakes (Taiyaki). Taiyaki is only available if you choose the premium menu. They have different kinds of toppings for the vanilla ice cream. The premium menu gave you the kinako powder and liqueur topping options.

Everything else

There are quite a lot of other dishes that I could not specify individually.

The final verdict for Nikuzo

It was quite unfortunate that Nikuzo’s setting wasn’t that great. The food that they served was very good. It was also a good value for money.

Did you know?

Let’s just put more pictures here!

Rating for Nikuzo:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $30 / $40 / $50 buffet

Place: 6.5 / 10

Details:

1 Newland St, Bondi Junction 2022

+61 2 9369 3328

Nikuzo in Zomato

Mar 15, 2017
Three Blue Ducks Rosebery

Three Blue Ducks Rosebery Review:

When I first visited Three Blue Ducks in Rosebery for brunch, I saw someone in the counter that I felt was quite familiar. After a quick browse, apparently Andy from Masterchef Australia has joined Three Blue Ducks as a partner for the Rosebery venue. Being a Three Blue Ducks restaurant and ex-Kitchen by Mike venue, I placed quite a massive expectation for it. Regrettably, that first visit was forgettable.

In my second visit, I was there with my colleagues for an office lunch. Three Blue Ducks Rosebery has a different set of menu for lunch.

We ordered almost all of their starters. The two dippings were pretty good. The sourdough was the best value for money. However $20 for roasted veggie bowl seemed to be a bit too expensive. Considering that they also served vegetarian main dish for only $18.

Iggy’s sourdough with butter – $5

Sweet potato hummus, charred onions, black sesame & focaccia – $13

Babaganoush, toasted almonds, sumac, chives and focaccia – $13

Roasted veggie bowl with grains & fermented veggies & dukkah – $20

Amongst our group, we also ordered almost all of their main dishes. I wouldn’t be talking about most of them, but I’ll just show you their pictures. Personally, I ordered their special of the day. It was a rather big squid with pearl couscous, vegetables and a very yummy sauce.

According to my colleagues, the piri piri chicken was the best one. They actually got half a chicken! Charred occy, kingfish and sirloin steak were pretty good. Poke bowl was probably the one to forget. I also agreed with the justification for the poke bowl.

Poke bowl – raw fish, cucumber, avocado, radish, kimchi, brown rice, seaweed & softboiled egg – $27

Piri piri chicken, spiced yoghurt, chickpeas, parsley, tomatoes and preserved lemon – $32

Charred occy, corn, grapefruit, pickled chilli, mixed leaves & fermented radish – $28

Wood roasted kingfish on the bone, sweet potato puree, charred broccoli and corn, soy mirin – $34

400gr charcoal grilled pasture fed sirloin steak, burnt herb salsa, pickled onion & mustard – $34

The final verdict for Three Blue Ducks Rosebery

Three Blue Ducks is probably one of the better restaurants in Rosebery. However, given how good our dining experience in the Bronte one was, this one was subpar.

Did you know?

Looking at their website, there are actually three blue ducks restaurants in Australia (the other one being in Byron Bay).

Rating for Three Blue Ducks Rosebery:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $18 – $34 main dish

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

1 / 85 Dunning Avenue, Rosebery 2018

+61 2 9389 0010

http://www.threeblueducks.com/rosebery/home-rosebery

Mar 7, 2017
Medan Baru

Medan Baru Review:

The restaurant I am reviewing this week (I believe) is a restaurant that has achieved the legendary status in the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta. When you ask someone from Jakarta about Rumah Makan Medan Baru, they would most likely have heard about the place. We went to the original place in Pasar Baru, Jakarta.

You can feel the old-fashioned air as soon as you entered the restaurant. There was no menu being handed out in Medan Baru. Instead you are given plates of pre-selected dishes. The number of plates were not as massive as other similar restaurants in Indonesia.

Please be mindful that you do not need to finish them all. You are only charged for the number of plates you take the food out from.

Medan Baru is famous mainly for their following three dishes. You have to order it separately as they don’t come in that pre-set menu laid out above.

The first on the list is Sambal Ganja. Unfortunately (or fortunately and strangely, I might add), they ran out of it when we were there. Sambal ganja is a chili sauce that was native to Medan area. Ganja is actually an Indonesian word for cannabis leaf. Whether or not they actually put ganja in the ingredient, you would never know.

I was happy that I did not have to try chili sauce. It did leave a sour note to the whole experience.

Burung Punai

Burung punai is the local name for pink-necked green pigeons. So (yeah!), you are basically eating a whole pigeon. To make things more interesting, they actually left the frame intact. You got everything minus the head and feet.

There was not that much else to talk about.

Gulai Kepala Ikan

This is the bit that made me consider to revisit Medan Baru. Basically, it was fish head curry… A really big fish head. They have quite thick curry sauce and very fragrance dish.

The final verdict for Medan Baru

Personally, I was not too impressed with the quality of food at Rumah Makan Medan Baru. I believe my brother has oversold it a tad too much.

Did you know?

Rumah Makan Medan Baru has two more branches in Jakarta: Sunter and Puri Indah.

Rating for Medan Baru:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 6.5 / 10

Price: Rp 20k onwards per plate

Place: 6.5 / 10

Details:

Jl Krekot Bunder Raya No 65, Pasar Baru, Jakarta

+62 21 384 4273

Medan Baru on Zomato

Mar 2, 2017